Sharjah 24 – AFP: Lufthansa said Monday it had paid back in advance $1.7 billion of state aid obtained last year at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, which decimated air travel.

The payment comes on the back of a 2.2 billion euro capital increase as the German carrier, in which the German state has a 14 percent stake, banks on a revival of demand for air travel next year.

Lufthansa added it also intends to pay off an unused loan tranche worth one billion euros by the end of the year.

The carrier had already paid back a state loan of one billion euros in February and has bounced back following a successful 2.14 billion euro capital increase launched last month.

In all, the health crisis is set to slash the carrier's workforce by some 43 percent since the start of the pandemic.